


All Was Golden In The Sky

by Pinapple_Bakugo



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Android GLaDOS, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Human Wheatley, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Portal 2, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25774966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinapple_Bakugo/pseuds/Pinapple_Bakugo
Summary: GLaDOS’ project needs one final test, and what better to test it on than the little Intelligence Dampening Sphere in space? Chell reluctantly wants Wheatley to make it out in the small town of Windgrip.
Relationships: Chell/Wheatley (Portal)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. In The Middle Of Summer

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chapter fic! my tumblr is Lunar-Cretin

Dark space. That was it, that’s all that Wheatley could see. The cold embrace of never going back- or so he thought for years. Most of his functions had stopped but there was a definite pull at the back of his outer shell. Old sights started to appear again, and when the moon came into view- his optic shorted out with an involuntary shut down. Ironic, the last thing I’ll ever see is that awful hunk of rock. Well. that was the thought running through his head. On the outside he was screaming.  
-

Chell slammed the rusted door of her pickup shut, grabbing her shotgun out of the bed of the old truck. She stared up into the night sky, it was unusually clear, revealing the full moon. Chell shrugged off the panic that kept creeping up ever since she got called to deal with some issue at the outskirts of town. The outskirts that bordered the Field. She pulled her ponytail taught and went inside the only store-combination-cafe Windgrip had.

“Claire! Im here. What in the world were you talking about-” Chell shouted into the apparently empty store. 

“On the roof!” Called out an excited voice. Chell nodded to herself and jogged out the back to the ladder. She looked round curiously at the cozy hangout of old fairy lights and outdoor furniture that'd been half burned, she spied Claire in the corner next to a telescope pointed at the moon. 

Claire seemed about a decade older than Chell. She was the resident town muscle before Chell came along. She helped Chell adapt to life outside of Aperture, even now she still supplied Chell with cooking lessons that Chell could not grasp. 

“Claire, it’s 4 in the morning, what’s going on?” Chell said, trying to keep the exhausted tone out of her voice. 

“Chell, trust me. This wasn’t a comet. I think it might be that uh… what's it called- CORE. it fell into the wheatfield, it was on fire but I don’t see anything on fire now,” Claire pushed her braid of greying red hair behind her, “What do you think happened to it?”

“Probably extinguished itself… I mean, advanced tech like that could probably do that.” Chell hummed, hoping it wasn't just wishful thinking.

“Maybe get together some of the boys and go take a look at it-”

“NO!” Chell sputtered “I mean, I might go take a look at it myself. It’s probably nothing.” Claire wore a doubtful look but relented. 

“Fine, call me if anything goes wrong.” she squinted “And I do mean anything.” 

Chell was already halfway down the ladder. Her truck started and peeled out towards the distant wheatfield.

-  
Wheatley awoke in a dark room, only a faint outline of wires and small lights that didn’t offer much in terms of raising the brightness. He guessed he was back in Aperture. As much as he hated space, he wasn’t sure he liked Here better. In light of all that had happened, all he could do was pray She’d had her memory wiped or died. Either way was good enough for him. 

The panels above him shifted, allowing the one carrying him to raise up into a circular room; there She was. Her orange optic seemed to burn a hole into his already half burnt hull. She didn’t speak at first, she just stared at him, unmoving. Her wire chassis twisted in a way that almost gave her the illusion of a human body. 

“You know. It’s funny. I pulled you down here for the final step of my project. Not any new torture methods I’ve thought of- just a simple experiment. But in a way- this is so much worse than anything else I came up with. And so much more deserved.” She spoke as if she were smiling, her head bobbed with every word like an excited child. 

If Wheatley was capable of movement he would have been crawling away. Every wire in his body wanted to. But GLaDOS' claw grabbed onto him, dragging him closer.

"WAIT no no no no no, please. You really really don't have to do this, I've learned my lesson. I'll be quiet, I wont ever try to escape again. PLEASE-" Wheatley pleaded. GLaDOS only chuckled in response. 

"I guess I should tell you what's going on," She purred, "For some time now I've been thinking about how I should resolve this issue of no human test subjects. These idiot little robots just aren't doing the trick anymore. And that's when I discovered the preserved bodies." 

"Preserved WHAT!?!?" Wheatley's voice cracked as GLaDOS tightened her grip. 

"Human bodies. Now. They're simple, and rather… fragile. So I've made some modifications to them. At first I tried to put various AIs in. They all worked exactly the same as before- unusable" She purred. Panels moved and exposed the glass cells where Living people were. Some sat unmoving, some paced around and talked endlessly, some banged their heads against the glass. 

Wheatley tried to shut his optic, he recognized them somehow. GLaDOS tapped his hull with another claw.

"Keep looking, moron. Because I'm going to use you as the final test for this transfer technology. You see, there are places in this facility that even I cant reach. But humans can. And as much as I despise you- you're not the same as the other Cores. I can use you." She moved in front of him, her burning glare only making him cower again. 

Something in the floor moved, a hunk of machinery that Wheatley deduced was something like the core transplant tech. He whimpered as the claw swung him closer to the device. More of the floor fell away to a body. 

Wheatley wouldn't call the body completely human- although he didn't have much to go on. It had lights under the skin, some places weren't even flesh and bone but rather sleek white pieces like GLaDOS' head plate covering masses of wire and metal. This particular body had blonde wavy hair and an awkward nose. Something about it seemed familiar to Wheatley. Had it been one of the people in the chambers…?

"WAIT WAIT WAIT YOU'RE GOING TO PUT ME IN THAT THING?!?! WHY?!" He screeched.

The claw thrust him into the core transfer computer. He screamed as GLaDOS looked on, her optic plate came up to show a sort of sick grin. Everything hurt as much as the simulated pain receptors would allow. Why did they even program that in- 

Complete and total darkness. Again. But it wasn't the same as before- no. He could still think. Some part of Wheatley's mind was still active! He tried to climb blindly through whatever this was and back to his old body, there was nothing. Nothing but an ice cold feeling and being stretched in a thousand directions. 

-  
The sun bad barely peaked over the horizon, casting warm shadows over the road. An old rock song played on the truck radio. It was drowned out by the roar of the truck engine down a dirt road.

Chell drove like a madman, she didn't even know why. Well. She did know the possible reasons. She'd either kill him or help him. She'd decide later. 

The trees broke and gave way to the edge of the wheatfield. It was scary how abruptly it stopped. Like it was some invisible barrier that held all of Aperture from poisoning the rest of the wildlife. A chill ran down Chell's spine as she drove into the wheat. She put her hand on the shotgun in the passenger seat, gripping it for comfort.

Chell felt the sun shine through the truck window. She focused on the feeling, she wasn't in Aperture now. And she wouldn't go back. Not for any reason. But the lack of any sign from her former friend and current enemy made her doubt that promise to herself.   
-  
Wheatley groaned. Now things hurt much worse than before. He coughed and opened his eyes. He blinked. Wait. He had eyes. WAIT- 

The blurry memories started to come back. He moved his hand up to where he could see it. It was blurrier than he'd expected but no matter. 

"Alright. I guess I should sit up and look around more. Shouldn't be that hard- I mean lady did it all the time, obviously. It's a simple task. Yep, easy-" He started to pull himself up, and instantly landed on the floor, "WELL THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN-" 

A beep from the speaker above him beeped- apparently GLaDOS put him in one of the cells. 

"Cognitive function test: complete. Vocal test: complete. Aperture Cyborg Technology Fusing test: complete. Subject is secure." 

"What the hell does that mean-" Wheatley mused. He grabbed the wall, slowly pulling himself up. It had been about five minutes and he already despised everything about this body. 

"Aperture Laboratory protocol states that we should alarm any and all test subjects with impaired vision, that their sight correcting glasses are on the table next to the bed. If you cannot find them- please ask an Aperture Laboratory worker to get them for you!" 

Wheatley gripped the wall and made his way back to the table, finding a pair of black half rimmed glasses. He slid them on and his sight was clear again.

"Of all the bodies in this facility and She picked the ONE that needed these ugly things to see properly. Wonderful." He let go of the wall and fell forward, only barely catching himself. The wall opened up, revealing GLaDOS in exactly the same state as she was when the core transfer started. 

"Ah. Just in time. Our little murdering orphan has decided to come for you. I don't know what she's planning but either way, I win." GLaDOS said, still maintaining that sickeningly sweet tone. The lift opened to the side with a woosh and Wheatley was unceremoniously tossed in. 

The ride up to the surface made Wheatley nauseous. The glass door opened again, he gasped. The sun hit his face, he squinted as he crawled out of the elevator. He looked around, no vengeful brunettes to try and kill him were present.

He sighed in relief as he collapsed onto the cracked asphalt parking lot. He wondered if the lady was even alive.

As if to answer his thought that he definitely didn't want answered- a red vehicle was pulling through the field at an alarming rate. Oh no. 

-  
Chell saw it- the Aperture shed. And when she got closer she saw something else. A person- and judging by the way he looked at her in alarm, and how the little core was nowhere to be found- that was Wheatley. 

Chell grabbed her shotgun and slammed on the brakes. She nearly tripped getting out of the truck. She broke out in a sprint towards him. 

Wheatley scrambled to get away. There was a nearly one-hundred-percent chance she was here to kill him. 

"WAITWAITWAIT PLEASE CAN EVERYONE STOP TRYING TO KILL ME, I'M SORRY, I'VE LEARNED MY LESSON!!!!!!" Wheatley shrieked. 

Chell laughed, it came out as an unbelieving huff.

"Wheatley… so it is you…" Chell said in disbelief. 

"YOU CAN TALK!?" Wheatley rapidly pulled himself away from her "HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT THIS ENTIRE TIME?!"


	2. When The Moon Found The Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter after such a long time! I'm hoping to fix that soon!

The low hum of the truck was the only noise between the two of them. Wheatley stared intently at Chell, who was keen on staring down the dirt road. Wheatley tried desperately to assess the situation. Chell hadn't said… much, but the fact that she said ANYTHING was a miracle. Wheatley took a deep breath. 

“So-” Wheatley started off, “-you… you’re still mad at me, aren’t you? Ugh I knew it. I did. You’re very good at um… showing all your emotions. On your face. I feel like you’re going to hit me, your arms seem very tense. You still haven’t said anything- WHAT IN THE WORLD, LADY!?!?” Chell slammed on the gas pedal, stirring up so much dust that it nearly covered up the windshield. Once Wheatley stopped thinking he was about to die he glared back at Chell.

“Look. I know you’re mad. I understand. But I’m sorry!!! I am! So you can- stop being mad! Anytime!” Wheatley plastered on a wide grin, “Comeon, love, it was funny a minute ago but it’s not anymore… you know maybe you’re not used to this, I don’t blame you! But usually! The response to a genuine heartfelt apology is ‘I forgive you’... you forgive me… right?” 

“It’s not that simple, Wheatley.” Chell’s voice came out softer than Wheatley expected. 

“But what does that mean- HEY where are you taking me anyways? We left in such a hurry you didn't explain.” Wheatley jumped in alarm as buildings started to appear.

“I’m taking you into town. We’ll figure out the details later. But for now- you’re my responsibility.” Chell said, focused on finding a certain building, “there it is. I’ll only be a minute.” she pulled up next to a plain looking house and hopped out, making sure to grab her shotgun. 

Wheatley watched her ponytail bounce as she jogged inside. He looked around at the town buildings mixed with trees, a few people walked by, they glanced at him curiously, he raised his hand and waved, the people’s faces grew anxious as they walked away. Wheatley looked at his left hand in confusion when it hit him; it was made of hydraulics and smooth white Aperture brand coverings. Chell probably warned them about Aperture- about HIM. 

She probably hated him. Why wouldn’t she? He deserved every ounce of it. He was only with her because Chell would march directly into hell before leaving anyone to GLaDOS. Everything he felt coming he knew he couldn’t escape it, and he knew it would hurt in a way he couldn’t comprehend. Things were starting to get fuzzy. His fragile world that was being held up by splintering beams laid in the hands of someone Wheatley could only hope wouldn’t destroy it. 

Chell opened the driver side door, tossing her shotgun in the backseat and setting a pile of clothes beside it. She started the truck back up and eyed Wheatley curiously.

“Are you crying?” She tilted her head, pulling her hands back from the steering wheel, “Your glasses are on upside-down by the way.”

Wheatley blinked a few times and took his half rimmed glasses off, he wiped under his eye. 

"Huh!? I didn't even realize- Humans are… gr- AHH no no. Not gross. Um. Confusing. That's the word.

“That's one way of putting it.” Chell stopped being concerned and resumed her task of driving.

“It’s- it's not that humans are gross, I'm just not used to being in a… mostly human… body.” Wheatley mumbled as he put his glasses back on (correctly this time.) 

The rest of the ride went silently. Wheatley moping and Chell trying to think of how she’d deal with the lanky cyborg in her passenger seat.   
-  
Chell’s house could be described as a goblin den. She was tidy but the simple architecture was covered in ivy and different colored rocks were strewn everywhere, windchimes that did not match were hung from every available space, and the only seating had mismatched cushions. Chell grabbed her shotgun and the pile of clothes. She squinted at Wheatley.

“Can you walk?” Her flat tone suggested she didn’t care. She did, in fact care. A lot actually, much to her own dismay. Wheatley cautiously opened his door, nearly falling onto the gravel. 

“Hey, lady? Not sure I can get down from here. It’s- it’s not a huge deal, I mean it’s not that far, but still! Could you help me? Please?” Wheatley looked at Chell with pleading eyes, “please?”

Chell rolled her eyes and hid a smile. She set her load on the porch and jogged back. She held her hand out to him. He slid his hand into hers, not aware of how strong and claw-like his grip was. Wheatley crawled out of the truck- bracing himself for a fall, his feet hit the ground. He snapped up to look into Chell’s eyes.

“Hey! You didn’t let me fall! You could have but you didn’t! WOW maybe we are making progress! I knew I'd win you over.” Wheatley chirped, grinning ear to ear. Chell sighed and nodded. 

“Maybe we are,” she stared at him with cold grey eyes, “you’re going to stay with me until you get a grip on… whatever this is. Once you can survive on your own, you’re out of my house. Do you understand me?”

Wheatley stood there, thinking it over. His eyes went wide. “Wh- you mean- WHY?! Why not give me a chance? I mean-” 

“This IS your chance. Don’t mess it up,” she pulled him lightly by the faded blue Aperture jumpsuit he wore, “please.”

Wheatley stumbled as he followed her into the house without another word, his brain was moving so fast it just stopped altogether. Even as Chell sat him down on the couch he couldn’t think straight- well. This was Wheatley, finding a coherent thought in his head was a rare occasion. 

Chell stared into Wheatley’s eyes, searching. Neither of them really knew what for. But the moment lasted way too long. Chell shook herself out of it.

"Listen. I won't lie to you. I don't have very much reason to trust you. I don't know if we'll ever be friends again. But we can keep out of each other's way, we don't have to make each other's life a living hell." Chell, usually so stoic, was shaking.

"I never wanted to mess things up, lady-" Wheatley started.

"My name is Chell." She hissed and regretted it, she rubbed her temples. Wheatley stared at her, eyes unnaturally blue and sparkling. 

"Chell…" he repeated softly, "that's a lovely name." He smiled. Chell glanced up at him and tried to hide a small grin. 

"Thanks" She twirled a strand of wavy brown hair. "I have rules in my house, Wheatley. I'd… really appreciate if you followed them." 

Wheatley was deeply, deeply afraid. Rules came with penalties, penalties usually hurt. But Chell's rules were simple if not for confusing reasons.

•Avoid the kitchen.

•Don't go into her room for any reason.

•Don't touch any of the weapons for any reason.

And most importantly: 

•"If this is some kind of sick scheme from Her or a scheme of your own doing, so help me, I will not rest until all of Aperture is in flames." 

Wheatley agreed, not fully understanding any rule but the last one. Chell gave him the clothes she'd apparently gotten from the neighbor. He changed out of the canvas jumpsuit and into normal clothes.

"I have to clean the spare room, so it's the couch for you until then." Chell yawned, despite it being the middle of the morning, she was only asleep for about four hours before Claire called her about the strange falling object. It had been a very… long five hours, and she was ready to continue her sleep. She'd call Claire later. She'd deal with the flood of emotions later. She'd deal with Wheatley later. 

Thankfully the lanky blonde was already asleep- he shut his eyes the second he hit the pillow. Chell did feel bad for him. After all- nothing good happens in Aperture. He was a robot haphazardly shoved into a probably half decayed body. The way the wires in his arm and legs twitched and shifted and withed, Chell wondered if Wheatley could actually feel them. She wondered if they hurt the way the portal gun hurt- they looked the same after all. 

Chell paused as she started off to her room. She sighed to herself as she glanced at Wheatley, walked over to him, and quietly covered him up with the blanket she set out for him. 

Chell liked to think of herself as calm and logical, but sometimes she was too tired to keep it up. She knew she'd regret a lot of stuff in the morning. Not calling Claire was definitely one of them.


End file.
